Frequently asked questions

Yes

No. This is a popular misconception as there used to be restrictions on height, weight and chest expansion, but this is now no longer the case.

Successful candidates will be appointed as an Apprentice Firefighter and will undertake the Level 3 Operational Firefighter Apprenticeship standard, which will typically take up to 18 months to complete.

You need at least one GCSE (or equivalent) in EITHER Maths or English at grade C/4 or above. If you don’t have both, don’t worry, you can still apply. If you are successful with your application, you will complete the one you are missing during your firefighter apprenticeship, with full support from our training provider.

You must be at least 18 years old by the start of the course on 7 April 2026.

There is no maximum age.

Yes. You will need a UK licence with 3 points or less when you apply. All firefighters must pass an LGV Medical and will be required to undertake LGV training as part of their initial training.

You need to be able to swim 50 metres by the start of the course on 7 April 2026. The ability to swim is necessary as we have so many areas of water across the county and are called out for water rescues. All our firefighters are swift-water trained. If you can’t swim there are lots of places in Cheshire where you can learn or build up your stamina.

Having a criminal record will not necessarily prevent you from working for us. If you have a conviction the Service will consider its nature, its relevance to the role of firefighter, the sentence, patterns of offending and the length of time since the offence.

Yes, anyone who considers themselves to have a disability can apply to join the fire service.

Yes. Part of the recruitment process will include a medical and this will include an eye test. Our Occupational Health Physician will determine whether your vision meets the standards to become a firefighter.

For more information - Medical and eye sight requirements

Dyslexia is classed as a disability and you will be asked if you have a disability as part of the recruitment process.

Please note, any reasonable adjustments will only be put in place for the timed assessments.

Yes. The Service respects everyone’s religious beliefs but there are health and safety reasons as to why certain facial hair cannot be accepted.

Facial hair such as stubble, beards, and sideburns extending below the earlobe prevents an effective seal of Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) and compromises safety. Moustaches are permitted if they do not interfere with the RPE.

There is further information on our website showing the timetable of the recruitment process. It is important that candidates make a note of the dates of the different stages of the process as there is not scope for dates to be changed or alternative dates to be offered.

You will need to complete an online questionnaire called the Assessment for Firefighter. The Assessment for Firefighter is a behavioural and values assessment developed specifically for use by the Fire Service to measure the personality traits closely aligned with operational firefighter performance. It measures a person's personal preferences and values which have been identified as predicting real-world firefighter performance and engagement.

This assessment should take approximately 30 – 40 minutes to complete however this test is not timed.

Following this you will need to complete three ability tests:

Numerical Reasoning measures your ability understand, interpret and evaluate numerical information. You will be presented with graphs, charts and numerical information and will then be required to make calculations based on this information.

This is a timed test and 25 minutes is allowed for completion.

Verbal Reasoning measures your ability to understand and interpret written information. You will be presented with passages of text and will be required to answer a series of questions to demonstrate your ability to interpret and analyse verbal information.

This is a timed test and 25 minutes is allowed for completion.

Mechanical Reasoning contains questions based on situations and scenarios that are relevant to the Fire and Rescue Service. Each question requires a candidate to interpret and analyse a practical or mechanical scenario that is presented in an image. To correctly work out the answer, candidates will need to apply cognitive reasoning to a practical situation.

This is a timed test and 25 minutes is allowed for completion.

Ensure that you are in a quiet and calm environment to take the assessments and that you have sufficient time to complete. Please note: you only have one attempt!

Unfortunately no, all tests must be completed online.

All correspondence will be by email. It is important that you check your email including your spam/ junk folders regularly for invitations to the different parts of the process.

Emails will only be sent to the email address you registered your account with.

Once the closing date for the final online assessment has passed, you’ll receive an email from us only if you’ve been successful, inviting you to attend a practical selection test day.

Due to the high volume of interest we regret that it is not possible to inform candidates individually of the result of their application or provide feedback.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service has a policy on secondary employment. Employees cannot engage in this without first obtaining written approval.

Unfortunately no. Candidates will be placed at Stations where there are vacancies.

Successful candidates will be posted to fire stations that have vacancies. We have a range of duty systems:

Wholetime fire stations work 2-2-4 so 2 x 12hr day shifts 08:00-20:00 followed by 2 x 12hr night shifts 20:00-08:00, followed by 4 days off.

We have nucleus fire stations which mostly work 3 days on 07:00-19:00 then 3 days off (or a variation of that depending on the station).

We have weekday crewing fire engines which work Monday-Friday which are 09:30-18:00 Monday-Thursday and then 09:30-17:30 Fridays.

We also have day crewing fire stations where staff crew the fire engine Monday-Friday 09:00-19:00 and one weekend day a month 10:00-16:00 on a self-rostering basis. Outside of these hours they provide on-call cover.

Your starting wage will be £30,384. Once you become a competent firefighter, you’ll earn more than £38,800.